Apple Hits All Time Closing High of $701.91

Apple set a new all-time closing high on Tuesday, ending the trading session at US$701.91, a gain of $2.129 (+0.30 percent), on light volume of 13.1 million shares trading hands. While the stock crossed the $700 mark during Monday's after-hours session, today was the first time shares in AAPL did so during the regular session.

As you can see in the chart above, the stock danced around Monday's close of $699.78, but settled into positive territory for good during the last two hours of the session.

Crossing the $700 mark has no meaning in and of itself, it's just a nice, round number, but we, as humans, are often fascinated by nice, round numbers, especially when it comes to money. Speaking of nice, if not necessarily round, numbers, Apple's new market cap is $658 billion.

The stock's gains during the last two days have been fueled by the news that Apple had record pre-orders for the iPhone 5. On Monday, the company announced that it had two million pre-orders for the iPhone 5 in just the first 24 hours, more than twice the number of pre-orders during the same time period last year for the iPhone 4S, and more than three times as many for the iPhone 4 two years ago.

Yee Haw. I bought at $329. Not many shares but it feels pretty good. A year ago I thought it would hit $550 in March 2013. I like the $840 number. Wish I still had all those shares I bought in 2000 for about $18. Oh well….

Add me to the list of short-sighted sellers. We had close to 500 shares bought at $15 that we sold to get through a tough spot. The stock shot up and split less than six months later and did the split again not very long after that.

Still have some shares; but millions flew away. A friend asked me last year about the worth of 140 shares of Apple her father willed to his four daughters. I suggested she keep her 140 shares and advise her sisters to do the same. When she got her first dividend she thanked me and her shares are worth nearly 50K more since inheritance.